Unlicensed Contractor Charged with Multiple Felonies and Misdemeanors Related to Defrauding Scheme
From the Office of the District Attorney:
Martinez, Calif. – The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office has filed felony and misdemeanor charges against an unlicensed contractor for defrauding multiple victims in Contra Costa County.
Forty one-year-old Modesto resident Adan Contreras Rivas is currently being held on $600,000 bail in the Martinez Detention Facility on 38 charges for financial elder abuse, theft by false pretense, theft with specified priors, and violations related to his fraudulent contracting practices. Since June 2022, Rivas has been under investigation since his initial offenses were reported by a victim in Walnut Creek. When authorities arrested Rivas in Morgan Hill on November 8th, he was operating under the name “Gutierrez Tree Services”— though he has used various business names like “New View Tree Care.”
Rivas is alleged to have posed as a licensed contractor in the landscaping and paver industry and taken thousands of dollars from unsuspecting consumers. Many of his victims tend to fit a particular profile: often elderly and residing in affluent neighborhoods in Walnut Creek and Concord. Investigators also believe there are additional victims in Contra Costa County, the South Bay, and the Central Valley.
Unlicensed contractors pose a threat to consumers by failing to acquire skills and licensure when hired to perform home improvement or construction projects. Some unlicensed contractors illegally require excessive down payments for construction or landscaping projects, and frequently fail to begin or complete projects once they receive money. Consumers are often unaware unlicensed contractors do not have completed background checks and usually do not carry workers’ compensation insurance for their employees – which increases liability risks to consumers.
The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office has taken a proactive stance in protecting consumers in the county by partnering with multiple government agencies including the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) and the California Department of Insurance (CDI). This partnership conducts undercover sting operations and investigations involving unlicensed contractors who fail to obtain workers’ compensation insurance.
California law requires contractors to be licensed in their chosen specialty and to obtain workers’ compensation insurance for their employees. Licensed Contractors are only allowed to request a down payment of $1,000 or 10% of the contract (whichever is less).
For more information on how you can protect yourself and verify a contractor’s license, go to cslb.ca.gov.
“Landscaper” – hahahaha. O, you were being serious.
Shame on you Adan Contreras-Rivas, why didn’t you do the work to become a contractor. I hope they throw the book on you. I have had 2-3 times where non contractors lied about it and their work was horrible. Out DA needs to be stringent to stop these guys.
Do your homework and verify someone’s license. It’s easy to do. If you choose not to verify, there are consequences. Throw the book at him.
Throw the leaf blowers manual at him. These guys rip off old people.
Ask to see their contractors license. They have to carry it with them. It’s the size of a drivers license.
Put this man in prison. If these charges are true the accused is essentially telling everyone that is where he wants to be.
We know the DA is full of it. There’s no such thing as “affluent neighborhoods in Walnut Creek and Concord.” People move there because they’re NOT affluent….